Use of non-alphabetic languages (e.g. Chinese pictogrraphs) in information system Essay Example for Free

Use of non-alphabetic languages (e.g. Chinese pictogrraphs) in information system Essay One of the problems of information flow in the network system is the language barrier especially when information exchange is between two ports with different language. Linked with this problem is the difficulty in reading the information transferred, unless the two use the same writing system. Today, the effort in universalizing the system of writing or even the language had gone not much farther that is why, even in the information system, the hindrances brought by this problem can be clearly seen. There are a lot of systems of writing around the world but they can be categorized either in at least one of these three groups namely, logographic, syllabary and alphabetic (library. thinkquest. org). The first system, the logographic uses a single symbol to represent a word. The syllabary uses a single symbol to represent a syllable, which can then be combined to form a word. These two systems are of common use to many countries in Asia such as Japan, China and Korea. The last system, the alphabetic, uses characters or letters as the smallest unit to form syllables, which then represents a single unit of sound. Of these three, the alphabetic is the easiest to learn, mainly because it has less number of characters than those of the other systems that even has over thousands of symbols (library. thinkquest. org. ), although this is not necessarily mean that alphabetic is the most effective and efficient form to be use. Having the variety of system used in day to day encounter, the said variety is brought to the electronic-based system of communication which is the information system. The current information system uses mostly the QWERTY keyboard (home. earthlink. net). This type of keyboard specializes in the use of the alphabetic languages. Since alphabetic has only about less than 50 characters including letters and numerals, a unit can be represented in just one key, making it efficient for someone to key in words using the keyboard. On the other hand, system that uses logographic and syllabary such as the Chinese pictographs and the Japanese’ Katakana and Hiragana cannot have a single representation for a character since they are using thousands of characters and putting one by one in a single key for a character is not practical and even not an idea to think of. Solving this problem, there are two most common approaches in keying in characters or input text for non-alphabetical languages developed and are incorporated in the standard QWERTY keyboard so as to assist non-alphabetical language users to make input a little effective. These two are the radical-based method and the phonetic-based method on inputs (Hamzah pp. 311-312). In the radical based method, the standard stokes for a specific language is typed and then possible characters possessing the strokes you typed are prepared for you and then you select the right character that you are supposed to input. For example, there are 11, 172 Hangul characters but those characters has only 24 fundamental or basic strokes. Thus, to type Hangul or Korean characters, we only need to use 24 keys where every key has a unique stoke. This method is now commonly used in cellular phones. On the other hand, the phonetic-based input method uses the sound property of the alphabetic system in keying in characters. See Figure 1, courtesy of Hampzah p. 311 from http://www. pacis-net. org/file/2006/1104. pdf. In the figure on the previous page, if you want to key in non-alphabetic characters, you must first think of how the word is pronounced and then use its representation in alphabetic system. The original Japanese word can be pronounced as â€Å"tegakino† and thus tegakino must be typed in the QWERTY keyboard. Because the Japanese language have complexity in pronunciation brought about by words with similar sounds (www. japan-guide. com), then typing tagekino alone will not guarantee that what you are supposed to type is the right thing, so the system will then list characters with similar pronunciation as tagekino and now you are allowed to select the right group of characters that will fit or that you are intended to type. Noticed that in these two methods, the effort of input of a single character or a word is significantly higher than the effort it takes to input an alphabetical character or a word. This hypothesis is further proven by the study made on the input of Chinese and Japanese characters. The result of the study revealed that it takes about 36% of the total time of input of a Chinese character just to pick the right character from the list, even after the system of writing of Chinese is condensed and over 2000 characters are simplified (www. omniglot. com). Also, about 70% of the total time of input of Japanese characters account for choosing a kanji character that will be used in input for the intended Japanese character (Hamzah p. 313). Time is truly important in many of the transactions in the information system. More of the times, the data transfer must be done in real-time since the information transferred is either very important for the receiver or are controversial. Using the previous two methods of text input for non-alphabetical language, time is sacrificed and thus the flow of information or the processing of information becomes relatively slower, thus affecting great deal of transactions. Studies have been made in solving this issue and they come up with the idea of freeform annotation. Freeform annotation would mean that keying in characters will not use keyboard but by hand or through handwriting. This will use a somewhat scanning device that will scan the input through handwriting and then the system will match the strokes input with the characters stored in database. After the matching has been done, the characters selected by the computer will then be displayed and the user will be prompted by the computer to confirm if the selected characters are the intended characters of the users. However, only few are interested in making studies about the use of this method in information system (Hamzah p. 312). Other solutions that are now getting its way into the electronic system are those that are related to live translation. This would simply means that databases are to be build and programs would be produced so as to make information flow between users with different system of writing meet or be understood by both. Databases and programs such as Automatic Machine Translator, Multilingual Customer Support Platform and Glossary Builder will be utilized during data transfer to suit the preferred language and system of writing of the user (partners. wholetree. com). Thus using these innovations, the language barrier between nations with different systems of writing can now be lessen or even eliminated if more and more advancement with the technology and the linguistics experts’ cooperation in the succeeding projects. In the electronic age, the common problems that have arises concerning the language has been bought in the electronic-based system. Problems such as variations in the system of writing and the variations of pronunciation and usage of words are now a problem of the information system. Though there are assumed solutions to these problems like the annotation and translation processes, it is still difficult to solve the problems stated above. It is somehow linked with the problems with the variations of culture, for language is somewhat a part of it, that is why it is one of those problems that are almost impossible to give a definite solution. I am only saying it is almost impossible because I believe that through advancement and collaborative efforts, this flaw can have a solution. References Basic Information. 6 June 2007. http://www. japan-guide.com/e/e2050. html. Consider QWERTY†¦ the Typewriter Keyboard†¦Ã¢â‚¬  6 June 2007. http://home. earthlink. net/ ~dcrehr/whyqwert. html. Hamzah, Muhd Dzulkhiflee, et, al. (2006) A Video Analysis of Eye Movements During Typing. 6 June 2007. http://www. pacis-net. org/file/2006/1104. pdf. â€Å"Simplified Chinese Characters†. Omniglot: Writing Systems and Languages of the World. 6 June 2007. http://www. omniglot. com/writing/chinese_simplified. htm#simp. â€Å"The Development of Writing. † ThinkQuest. 6 June 2007. http://library. thinkquest. org/ C004367/la6. shtml.

Fetus Is Not An Actual Person Philosophy Essay

Fetus Is Not An Actual Person Philosophy Essay Thomson believes that a mother possesses the right to request an abortion because it is her body while the fetus does not have the right to continue using the mothers body for survival since it depends on the mothers body for existence. However, Marquis contests that this notion of personhood is not morally central to the argument when compared to the value of the aspects of life that is deprived of a fetus when abortion is performed. Although it is more clear that Thomson is leaning towards pro-abortion, Marquiss argument is not that apparent and ends up addressing both sides. After a critical evaluation of both sides, I ultimately support Thomsons view that abortion is not considered murder if the fetus is not an actual person. Under the circumstances where a baby poses a threat to the mothers life, Thomson asserts in her overall argument that although it is not impartial for a third party alone to decide whether or not to abort a mothers pregnancy, it is permissible for a bystander to decline the order of a mother requesting an abortion. If the mother remains neutral and does not give her opinion on wanting an abortion or not, a third party may not make that choice for her since both the mother and the baby are innocent. For this reason we may feel that we bystanders cannot intervene (Thomson, 1971, p. 53). The woman and childs life is not threatened because of any fault they committed; rather it so unfortunately happens that both lives are in jeopardy. Since theyre equally innocent, a bystander does not have the right to determine who deserves to live more. On the other hand, if the mother asks for the bystander to abort her baby, the bystander goes from not having the right to choose to having the right to refuse this demand. Despite the fact that the mother has a right to declare what she wants done to her body since it is her body, the third party, as well, possesses the right to refuse to lay hands on people, even where it would be just and fair to do so (Thomson, 1971, p. 54). Similar to how the child and mother are equally innocent, the bystander and the mother are also equal but in terms of both being human and holding the same rights. Even though leaving the child in the womans body would likely result in the womans death, the third party cannot be held responsible for this loss of life if he simply cannot execute this abortion due to personal reasons. Not only is nothing requiring him that he must perform this act, but he also has a right as an individual to make his own decisions because he has control over his own life. However, this does not mean another person cant help carry out the abortion. Thomson argues that a bystanders freedom and right to refuse to lay hands on another person does not hinder the mothers chance to live, but instead leaves room for others to possibly want to intervene. While Thomson believes that a mother has the right to decide what she wants done to her body, Marquis argues that personhood is irrelevant to the ethics of abortion because killing anyone who has a potential future is wrong. Starting off with Thomson, she asserts that due to the fact that the mother has prior claim to her own body, she thus possesses the right to choose the outcome for her body. For whatever reason if she feels that an abortion would be best for her, no one has the right to tell her otherwise. They can refuse to perform the operation, but they cannot think and judge for the mother as to what is better for her body or her life. The mother is a fully-grown person with a functional body while the fetus is a clump of cells within that body. The mother has prior claim over her body because she has matured with it whereas a fetus does not have a body of its own yet and relies on living inside the mothers body to develop it. For this reason of dependence, the fetus does not have the right to use the mothers body as a means for survival especially since it is the mothers, not fetuss, body. Marquis deems this concept as personhood comparing the mothers notion of a person to the fetuss notion of a potential person. However, he does not think that the category of personhood is what determines abortion ethically wrong. Instead, it is the future of a standard fetus [that] includes a set of experiences, projects and activitiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦that [makes] abortion prima facie seriously morally wrong (Marquis, 1989, p. 31). Prima facie, in this case, refers to abortion being intuitively wrong. The value of a potential persons (fetus) future is so great that it is incommensurable. It is the sum of all there is to life and to deprive someone of that natural gift is wrong. Just because a fetus isnt physically a person yet doesnt mean that it wont possess the same future as a currently developed human being. If anything, the fetus wont even have the chance to prove that it has a valuable future if a mother decides to abort it. After critically evaluating both sides to the argument, I agree more with Thomsons view that a mother has the right to decide what she wants done to her body even if that means aborting the baby. Assuming that the mother wants an abortion, my central argument is that she holds the right to have this desire because its her own body. This assertion is similar to my previous summary of Thomsons overall argument except it disregards the notion of a third party. We, as human beings, exist throughout life by the physical body we possess. Our bodies grow and develop as we age and are a part of who we are so we have prior claim over it. Due to this responsibility we have over our bodies, we are then allowed to decide how we use it and ultimately, what the outcome of it would be. Thomson uses the metaphor of the mother owning the house or body in which the child is in. The fact that she does adds to the offensiveness of deducing that the mother can do nothing (Thomson, 1971, p. 53). It is ins ulting and wrong to tell a woman that she cannot do what she wishes to her body when in fact, it is her body and her own life. The mother has a special relationship with the fetus that no one else can have. Who are we, as human beings, to tell another equal human being that they cannot go through with abortion when its not even our own child? However, Marquis argues that it doesnt matter whose body or child it is, abortion is wrong because it deprivesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦what [the fetus] would come to value (Marquis, 1989, p. 29). It is true that removing the ability to live also takes away the potential value of a fetuss future, but nevertheless, that is the mothers decision. Im sure its already hard enough for the mother to weigh the costs and benefits of wanting an abortion, so we should leave the decision up to the womans moral conscience. Her body, not anyone elses, is the means to which this fetus is even existing so she has the right to stop providing that life support whenever she pleases regardless of how much potential value that fetus can experience when it grows into an adult. The possibility of a future-like-ours is not strong enough to strip away the mothers right and control over her own body because the fetuss value is uncertain. However, an objection to this argument would be that allowing the mother to decide to abort her baby is murder. Marquis agrees with this opposition because a fetus is biologically human and it is wrong to kill beings who are biologically human (Marquis, 1989, p. 30). Containing human tissues and DNA, the fetus possesses genetic attributes that constitute it as biologically human. Given that Marquis does not address the physical qualities of the fetus, it is implied that bodily features do no hinder the scientific fact that a fetus is biologically human. Although at first sight, the fetus looks very different from a fully grown person, its early stages of life are still part of the process of becoming a human being so Marquis considers that killing a fetus is the same is murdering a human being. Using Thomsons argument of a right to life as a basis, I think otherwise. The fact that the fetus is already relying on the mothers body for its existence is natural since being pregnant invol ves carrying a potential child around. Yet, this does not mean that the fetus has a right to continue to use the mothers body in order to live. Nobody has a right to use your [body] unless you give him such a right (Thomson, 1971, p. 55). It is a privilege, if not, gift for the fetus to already be making use of the mothers body, with her consent, before she comes to a decision whether or not she wants to keep the baby. Conversely, once the mother reaches a conclusion that she wants an abortion, thereby meaning that she doesnt want to give the fetus a right to use her body, she has every right to do so. Its not murder if the fetus was the mothers own creation and she has the authority and right to decide what she wants to do with that creation. A rebuttal to this argument is that abortion cant really be murder if the fetus is not an actual person, but just a clump of cells. [The] fetus is not a person, but only a bit of tissue that will become a person at birth; and why pay out more arguments than you have to? (Thomson, 1971, p. 48). Just from the last question, it is already evident that Thomson advocates the notion that the fetus isnt a person even though she does not elaborate on why for arguments sake. I would like to elaborate based on my reasoning that this claim is true if we apply it to any scenario. Thomson uses another analogy regarding an acorn is not an oak tree just like a newly fertilized ovum is not a person. An egg is not a chicken and so forth. Yes, the clump of cells has the potential to be a full-grown person, but we cannot live in the future when the present hasnt been decided on yet. Presently speaking, we are not murdering a person, we are simply killing the potential of the fetus to become one. Howeve r, Marquis argues that this potential is vital to the process of life and eliminating that is deliberately terminating or murdering a human. Once again, the concept of a future-like-ours comes into play. He states that that the greatest loss in a persons life is the loss of life. The loss of ones life deprives one of all the experiences, activities, and enjoyments that would otherwise have constituted ones future (Marquis, 1989, p. 29). Although the fetus cannot value all these opportunities, it will value them in the future as it is born and grows older. I can agree that life itself is the greatest gift of all, but I have to reiterate the fact that the future cannot define the present. If someone is not capable of experiencing what life has to offer, it is unfortunate but not considered murder for the owner (mother) of that person (fetus) to want to take away what is rightfully hers, which is the babys future. Also, abortion is made legal by law with the Roe vs. Wade case. Since mu rder is illegal in the United States, how can abortion be considered murder if it is declared legal by the government? Abortion should not be considered murder not only because a fetus is not an actual person, but also due to the fact that the law permits this operation. Although Thomson and Marquis both make convincing cases, I ultimately agree more with Thomson on the mother having the right to request an abortion because it is her body. My central argument revolves around Thomsons notion that the motion has prior claim over her body, which allows her to decide what she wants to do with it and I declare that Marquiss defense of the wrongness of taking away a fetuss potential for a valuable future is nevertheless still up to the mother because she created the fetus. I then provided an objection to this argument by stating that regardless of whose body it is, abortion is considered murder supported by Marquiss belief that the fetus is biologically human which makes killing it the same as murdering a human being. However, I dismissed this account by using Thomsons argument and saying that its already a privilege for the fetus to be in the mothers body as a means for survival, so aborting it would not be murder if the mother previously allowed the baby to use or occupy her body. Finally, my rebuttal to this is that abortion cannot be murder if the fetus is not an actual human being, but just a clump of cells. This opinion rests on Thomsons view that the possibility of being human is not to be mistaken for the reality of the situation, which is that the fetus is currently just an embryo. I rejected Marquiss idea that this potential encompasses all that life has to offer and depriving it would be murdering because of the absurdity that abortion is deemed murder when the state of law rules it legal.

Impressionism in Writing and Art Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research

Impressionism in Writing and Art Realizing that their art would be overshadowed at major art exhibitions such as the Salon in Paris, a group of artists created their own exhibition. Following the painters’ first show in 1874, critics picked up on the title of one of Claude Monet's paintings, Impression, Sunrise 1872. Between 1874 and 1886 this group, dubbed â€Å"impressionists†, put on eight shows in all. Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, and Claude Monet were three of the more well know artists of the movement (http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/ impressionism/intro1.shtml). Although not necessarily a cohesive group, impressionist paintings all contained certain characteristics. The artists used very informal techniques while capturing the light and true color of their subjects. Their paintings have a very realistic feel when looked at from a far, however when viewed close up one can clearly see the short, blotchy strokes used by the artist. The paintings of Impressionists were immediate sensations which often captured the artists’ interpretation of everyday life. Diego Martelli remarked that impressionist painters do not â€Å"fabricate their theories first and then adapt the paintings to them, but on the contrary†¦the pictures were born of the unconscious visual phenomenon of men of art (Martelli 2)† Around the same time period a group of writers also demonstrated impressionistic ideals in their writings. As is the case with impressionist painters, writers of the impressionist movement are also difficult to classify. Critics have argued that Joseph Conrad, James Joyce, Stephen Crane and others could all be considered to have impressionistic ideas in their writings. In response to scientism, a belief that scientific m... ... site on the life and work of impressionist artists, here you can browse through impressionist paintings or even ask an expert a question. They even respond to your questions too! http://assets.cambridge.org/0521791731/sample/0521791731WS.pdf Here you can read the introduction to John Peters book Conrad and Impressionism. After his introduction you will want to go out and get the whole book Works Consulted Martelli, Diego. â€Å"A Lecture on Impressionists.† Impressionism and Post-Impressionism 1874-1904. Ed Linda Nochlin. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1966. Peters, John. Conrad and Impressionism. United Kingdom: Cambridge UP, 2001. The Impressionists. History Channel. 2002 Watt, Ian. Conrad in the Nineteenth Century. Berkeley: University of California, 1979.

The Shock of the novel The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Essay -- The Lot

The Shock of the novel The Lottery by Shirley Jackson The first time I read â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson, I thought it would be about someone in a desperate situation who wins a large amount of money. However, after reading the story I was shocked and disgusted like millions of other readers because of what the â€Å"lottery† was all about. After my shock wore off I thought about why the author had chosen to be so cynical. It occurred to me that she needed to shock people into changing for the better. She believed that the biggest problem in her society were the people who would live their lives without thinking about changing themselves for the better. She stresses the importance of questioning the validity of everything as opposed to conforming blindly to the majority. She portrays her message best through the characters that actually voice their opinion against the lottery and the characters who respond to them. While those opposed are the voice of reason, they are dismissed by the majority in different ways throughout the story. Firstly we see Mr. Adams questions Old Man Warner about the validity of the lottery when he says, â€Å"over in the north village they’re talking of giving up the lottery.† Old Man Warner, who represents the extreme right part of the majority, retorts with disgust and calls them a â€Å"pack of crazy fools.† The next person to speak up is Mrs. Adams, who is defending her husband to Old Man Warner. She informs the old man that there are place...

Nothings Changed :: Papers

Nothing's Changed When you phoned last night I was clipping my nails. I stood at the window of my bedroom; the phone cradled between my chin and shoulder, and clipped my nails as I listened to your voice. It had, after all, been some time since I heard it and I was, as ever, mesmerised. "I'm coming to town on Friday. I thought we could meet for a drink or something," you said, as if we were and always had been quiet, calm friends. "Sure. Sounds good." I watched the tiny clippings, brittle slivers of dead cells, fall to the floor. We arranged a meeting and you hung up. I remained at the window, the phone burning the palm of my hand. Eventually I replaced it on the hook and sat on the table overlooking the street below. I placed my hands palm down, feeling the cold on my skin. To drown the memory of your voice I looked at them minutely. My nails were short and functional, with sharp edges, not the perfectly soft rounded ones of before. My hands. The lifetime of hands; the language of hands. Here were the scars of a lifetime spent trying to unearth something, what I wasn't sure. My hands have aged with me, the knuckles have become red raw from the years of slave driving manual work, scars from unforgotten accidents, a story behind each one. I turned them over to look at the palms, lined now, the heel roughened by years. There was a scar beneath my ring, whitened by time. The silver mood ring, which flashes golden in the sun, and burns red whenever you are near. Do you remember the night you gave it to me? The first time you whispered in my ear that you loved me, and the expression on your face when I said it back? These hands, they had held starfish and crabs, caught by my brother and father on the long summers days spent at the beach down in Sussex where my grandmother lived by the sea.

The Importance of Poetry

Laura E. Smith Ms. Rachel MacNally English Honours 11th January 11th, 2012 The Importance of Poetry To each person, poetry has a varied significance and importance in their life. Some people may value poetry highly while others may consider it as something of lesser importance. The importance of poetry in today’s literary society is substantially important because it has an ability to express the thoughts and emotions of a writer through flowing words. Throughout history, poetry has been important because it gives us a historical representation of what previous generations found beautiful, important, or profound.It can show us words and concepts from the past. Poetry can even depict historical events. Poets in the past may have written a poem after a big event had occurred and by reading their poems, we can see how the event affected everyday people. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said â€Å"Poetry, above any other art form, comes closest to fulfulling the goal of art. Art is th e representation of the unrepresentable. Through language, space, and metaphor poetry is able to skirt the edges of capturing an ever changing world's beauty and ugliness better than any other art form. Many people may ask themselves, is poetry closest to fulfilling the goal of art? The reason is because anyone can write it without being judged because there is a variety, and so many ways to write poetry. From free verse to haikus, structured poems to couplets, the sky is the limit. Anyone can write poetry because it is your ideas and emotions that you are letting flow onto a piece of paper. The variety of poems allows people to be able to fashion their own combinations for writing poetry and ultimately creating their own unique style. Its shortness can be a vehicle to convey an idea that longer pieces may not fully capture.Poetry captures the urgency of a moment in the life of the writer. The art of poetry has always surrounded us, ever since we were little children. We began by li stening to our parents sing us Nursery Rhymes which at the end of the day are fun poems that we all remember. Communication is essential for life to continue. So the reading and writing of poetry is very involved with the interplay and dialogue between humans. Without poetry, life would be a very long lecture on morality. It is a way for young writers to let off steam and dream without being judged.It is also a way for an adult writer to express their madness, regrets, desires, aspirations and belief system. Poetry is the deep and powerful expression of the human condition; it encompasses all emotion, all modes of living; it can be mourning or celebration, song or scream, revelation or denial, acceptance or resistance,  and sometimes all of these at once. Poetry puts your observations, opinions, and even train of thought out in the open. Once people see how you think, they might have a feeling of why you say what you say, do what you do, or react like you do.This can prevent misun derstandings. Poetry can make it easier to step into the shoes of someone else. Due to this, poets are some of the first voices to protest social and political injustices; they are some of the first to mourn losses, cultural and personal; and they are some of the first to rejoice in the wonders of the living in and for the world. Unlike most forms of literature, poetry conveys more emotion than logical progression. It's the origin of songs, and is an indispensable way to express one's self since it is unbound by rules on grammatical clarity and precision.Poetry is perhaps one of the most versatile of literary forms since it can convey great emotion, lyrical aesthetic, and a story all at the same time. It is some sort of a midpoint between songs and stories. And yet for all its magic, poetry is found in our daily speech. It uses words that are known to all of us, but in a sequence and order that surprises us out of our normal speech rhythms and linear thought processes. Its effect is to illuminate our lives and breathe new life, new seeing, new tasting into the world we thought we knew.Poetry allows children and adults alike to explore the English language. Mixing words in sentences to find the right fit to create a sense of rhythm and flow. Poetry is real. Real people have written it to express real emotion that is normally hidden. Poets write to show that people have felt certain things before which someone else may be experiencing at another time. A poem allows you to see beyond the surface. Sometimes this is done through metaphors or other abstract ways which cause you to really think. Beauty is expressed, and art is emphasized through poetry.Finding and using words to fit exactly how you want them to takes time and thought. When people read poetry, they have a chance to really see the world with some of the bells and whistles stripped away; it lets them concentrate on the details which remain. Poems often describe life and illuminate aspects of it using fl ashes of imagery. Finally, poetry is a kind of multi-dimensional language. It is directed at the whole person, not just at his understanding. It must involve the reader's senses, intelligence, emotions and imagination.Poetry achieves its extra dimensions per word by employing devices including metaphor, allusion, sound, repetition, rhythm, irony, symbol, connotation and imagery. Using these resources and the materials of life, poetry, in its highest form, comes alive on the page. Poetry is important because it tries to render things that aren't easy to express in words. It does this by making use of attributes of language which aren’t commonly seen to instill deep thought and contemplation. In a sense, poetry uses words as doors to many possibilities. It carries our imaginations or stirs new dreams. Mainly, it extends the power of words to communicate.

Chapter 14 Outline Ap World History.

Outline Introduction: Every year or al least once in their life, the Muslims must travel to Mecca. This is a holy pilgrim that has been a tradition for the Muslims since Muhammad made the trip. At the beginning the pilgrims to Mecca were made by small amounts of people. However, by the ninth century, thousands of people traveled to Mecca in the 9th lunar month. All these people survived on food and water provided by the government. The Muslim government made a great effort to keep the roads and the cities clean and ready for the travelers.The hajj was not only solemn observance, but it was also an occasion for joy and celebration. The word Islam means â€Å"Submission,† which means obedience to the rule of Allah. If somebody accepts the Islamic faith it means that he/she is a Muslim. Even though this belief started with one man, by the end of the eighth century Islam stood alongside the Byzantine Empire. A Prophet and his World: Islam appeared in the Arabian Peninsula, and thi s religion reflected the cultural conditions of it’s homeland. Living in Arabia has always been hard because of the bad agriculture and the harsh climates.However people have been able to survive for a long time and they built a strong empire that was based upon family and submission. Arabia figured out the trading opportunities and took advantage of them. Arabia became an important trading center for India china and the Mediterranean. Plus they started receiving commodities. With the awake of classical empires, trade routes became insecure. Merchants abandoned the overland routes and they started using sea routes that passed through the Arabian Peninsula. This greatly influenced the economy of the city of Mecca.Muhammad and His Message: The prophet Muhammad was son of nomadic Bedouin herders and merchants. He was born in 570 C. E. and he was son of an honorable merchant family. He had an education, and they cared for him. However, when he was young he worked for a wealthy wi dow that later became his wife. He got some power in the Mecca society, but he didn’t get a high position. By the age 30 Muhammad had established himself as a merchant and he lived a comfortable life. He lived and knew about many other different religions and he knew the cultures of other peoples.According to the stories Muhammad received some messages from the Angel Gabriel which told him to convert his family and the world and to give them the message of god. Muhammad presented oral lessons that he passed to his students and the people. However when he dies, his students compiled his teachings in a book called the Quran. Most important after the Quran itself are traditions known as hadith, which include sayings attributed to Muhammad. Muhammad’s Migration to Medina: He first began for converting his family and then the community.Muhammad became popular and that brought him problems with the ruling elites of Mecca. Muhammad insisted that Allah was the only god and tha t there shouldn’t be any other deities to which we pray. The elite also saw him a treat because he said that Allah was going to punish greed. Because of all the danger in Mecca, Muhammad had to fled. He fled and joined a group of his followers in Yathrib, a rival trading city. Muslims called their new city Medina which also means the city of the prophet. In Medina he organized his followers into a community and he provides it with laws and a social code.He looked after the economic welfare of his community; he did this by trading or by launching expedition. Muhammad started to call himself the final prophet because he was going to at last reveal the message of god to the people. He teach that the Christian god and all the other major gods were the same. All of them were Allah and he also accepted the Jewish and Christian prophets. The Establishment of Islam in Arabia: Even thought they succeeded in Medina, Muhammad and his followers planned on returning to Mecca.In 630 he and his followers attacked Mecca and they conquered the city. They forced the rich to take Allah as their main god and they imposed a government dedicated to Allah. They also destroyed the shrines of other deities and they built mosques. In 632 Muhammad made the first pilgrimage to the Ka’ba. The foundations of Islamic faith as elaborated by Muhammad consist of obligations known as the Five Pillars. Added to the Five Pillars the Islamic people must follow the holy law known as the sharia. Through the Sharia, Islam became more than a religious doctrine.It became a way of life that people must strictly follow. Expansion of Islam: After Muhammad’s dead the religion faced a period of instability because he left no predecessor. Some people that had barely been conquered, broke from Islam, took back their independence and they became free again. However, within a short time, the Islamic community built a strong army that expanded its power and conquered many lands that converte d into Islamic. These conquests lead the foundation of the rapid growth of Islamic society. The Early Caliphs and the Umayyad Dynasty:Since Muhammad said that he was the last prophet when he died, there could not be another prophet to lead the Islamic society. However, they decided to chose Abu Bakr as deputy. He was the closest of Muhammad’s friends and he was one of the most devoted disciples that he had. He was a religious leader, but he was also the Military commander. During the century after Muhammad’s dead they expanded beyond the boundaries of Arabia, carrying with them their religion and their authority. Durig this period of time they conquered Persia and Africa.Because of this rapid expansion, the government had problems with governing and administration. It was just too many people to control. Disagreements over the succession lead to the emergence of the Shia sect, which wanted Ali and his successors to caliphs. The Shia survived because they created differ ent rituals and they appointed different holydays. The Shia Muslims also made changes in the Quran in order to support the party’s views. The Abbasid Dynasty: Rebellion in Persia brought the Umayyad dynasty to an end. The chief leader of the rebellion was Abu, he was a descendant of Muhammad’s uncle.Even though he was a Sunni Muslim, he allied himself with other Muslims in order to convert people from the Mediterranean. The Umayyad didn’t want to surrender to the Abu. One day Abu invited the rich, influential men to a banquet to make peace. However, during the banquet they were arrested and murdered. After they were killed Abu founded the Abbasid dynasty. This dynasty was more cosmopolitan than the previous dynasty. Instead of conquering new lands, the Abbasids largely contented themselves with administering the empire they inherited.The high point of the Abbasid dynasty came during the reign of Harun. This king provided with liberal support for artists and writ er, and he distributed money and wealth to the poor people. After the death of the emperor, the Abbasid Empire declined. This was due to the conflicts of succession. At the end the Mongols extinguished the already weakened empire in 1258. Economy and Society of the Early Islamic World: As in other agricultural societies the farmers worked in the land while the merchants stayed at the city and feed themselves with the food that the farmers produced.The creation of empires had dramatic implications and results. For instance, the Abbasid Empire created a zone of trade, exchange of ideas, and a communicating route. New Crops, Agricultural Experimentation, and Urban Growth: As the soldiers, merchants, administrators and the population traveled to other parts of the world, they encounter different animals, plants and cultures. Then they brought those ideas and teach them to the people of their empire. The introduction of new crops to the west had many positive effects for the economy.New food crops led to a richer and more varied diet. They also increased quantities of food and some plants, such as cotton, were used to make a profit. Travel and communication in the dar al-Islam also encouraged experimentation with agricultural methods. The cultivators copied systems of irrigation and techniques that would help them produce more food. The increase of agricultural production contributed to the rapid growth of the empire. Paper manufacture appeared in the Islamic cities during the Abbasid era. Chinese people made paper since the first century B.C. however with the diffusion, the paper techniques spread to Islamic world around 751 B. C. The Formation of a Hemispheric trading Zone: From its earliest days Islamic society drew much of its prosperity from commerce. Muhammad was a merchant, and he held merchants in high stem. According to early accounts of his life Muhammad said that merchants would stand alongside martyrs to the faith on the Day of Judgment. By the time of the Abbasid Empire, trade networks linked all the regions of the Islamic world and joined it to a larger hemispheric economy.Arab and Persian mariner borrowed the compass from its Chinese inventors and used it to guide them on the high seas. From Southeast Asian and Indian mariners, they borrowed the lateen sail, a triangular sail that increased a ship’s mobility. They established multiple branches that honored letters of credit known as Sakk drawn on the parent bank. Trade benefited also from techniques of business organization. As a result of improved transportation, expanded banking services, and refined techniques of business organization, long-distance trade surged in the early Islamic world.They brought many things such as silk and spices form far away. The Changing Status of Women: There was a patriarchal society even before Muhammad’s time. However, Arab women enjoyed right that women in other parts could never dream of. For instance, they could legally inherit property, divorce husbands, and engage in business ventures. However, in some respects the Quran enhanced the security of women in Arabian society. It portrayed women equal to men in the eyes of Allah. However, the Quran and later the Sharia reinforced male dominance. They recognized descend trough the male line.Even though they teach that women should be treated with delicacy and respect, it allowed men to have up to four wives, whereas women could only have one husband. The veiling of women was not originally a tradition of the Muslims. This tradition came from the Byzantine and Sasanid Empires. At the beginning women had many rights stated in the Quran, however as time passed, the scholars modified the Quran and they took away the rights of women. Islamic Values and cultural Exchanges: The Quran has served as the cornerstone of the Islamic society.The Quran established a flexible and powerful medium of communication. Even today the Muslims believe that the Quran is the only reli able scripture, translations as not as powerful as the original one. Muslims missionaries spread Goad’s message, but they allowed the people to still practice their old religions or beliefs. The foundation of an Islamic Cultural Tradition: The Muslims scholars studied the Quran and stories about Muhammad in order to create moral guidelines appropriate for their society. Formal institutions helped promote Islamic values.Many mosques maintained schools that provided elementary education and religious instruction, and wealthy Muslims sometimes established schools and provided endowments for their support. By the tenth century institutions of higher education known as Madrasas appeared. Muslim rulers supported the Madrasas because they had interest in recruiting literate and learned students with an advanced education in Islamic theology and law for administrative position. Sufis also appeared. Sufis were especially effective as missionaries because they emphasized devotion to Al lah above mastery of doctrine.Islam and the Cultural Traditions of Persia and the Cultural Traditions of Persia, India, and Greece: As the Islamic community expanded, the people started interacting with people from other societies, especially with Persia, India, and Greece. Persian traditions quickly found a place in Islamic society, since the culturally rich land of Persia fell under Islamic rule. Persian Influence was as noticeable in literary works from the Abbasid dynasty. While Arabic served as the language of religion, theology, philosophy, and law, Persian was the principal language of literature, poetry, history, and political reflection.Chapter Summary (taken from AP textbook) The religion of Islam emerged on the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century  C. E. as a result of the vision and the teachings of Muhammad. His message attracted a rapidly expanding circle of devout believers, known as Muslims. After Muhammad's death, Arab conquerors spread the word of Islam throu ghout a vast territory extending from the Indus River to the Iberian Peninsula within one century. This rapid expansion of Islam contributed to the development of a massive trade and communication network in which goods and ideas spread freely.The realm of Islam became one of the most prosperous and cosmopolitan societies of the postclassical world. This new society was characterized by, strong commitment to the monotheistic belief system, resting on the Five Pillars of Islam, first articulated by Muhammad and later elaborated on by scholars and mystics. Also, the development of overland and maritime trade and communication routes that facilitated the spread of new crops, trade goods, and ideas, from improved techniques in agriculture to the writings of the classical Greek philosophers.Engagement with and sometimes adoption of various cultural traditions encountered by the far-flung realm and its trade contacts, helped the country. Hence elements of Persian, Indian, Christian, and G reek cultures found their place into Islamic society and thought. Muslims believe that God is  one and incomparable  and the  purpose of existence  is to love and serve God. Muslims also believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that was revealed at many times and places before, including through Abraham,  Moses  and  Jesus, whom they consider  prophets.They maintain that previous messages and revelations have been partially changed or corrupted  over time,  but consider the Qur'an to be both the unaltered and the final revelation of God. Religious concepts and practices include the  five pillars of Islam, which are basic concepts and obligatory acts of  worship, and following  Islamic law, which touches on virtually every aspect of life and society, providing guidance on multifarious topics from  banking  and  welfare, to  warfare  and the  environment.The Pillars of Islam are five basic acts in Islam, consi dered obligatory for all believers. The  Quran  presents them as a framework for worship and a sign of commitment to the faith. They are (1) the  shahadah  (creed), (2) daily prayers (salat), (3) almsgiving (zakah), (4) fasting during  Ramadan  and (5) the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) at least once in a lifetime. The  Shia  and  Sunni  sects both agree on the essential details for the performance of these acts.